


The Best Friend Squad does Catra's Hair

by Ellimac



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24596602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellimac/pseuds/Ellimac
Summary: Exactly what it says on the tin.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 163





	The Best Friend Squad does Catra's Hair

“Catra, are you coming? We’re going to be late!”

Catra glared at her reflection, hairbrush in one hand and hair tie in the other. She had been struggling for the last half hour to get her hair to look halfway decent, but it was hopeless. It was too short to tie back, but too long to behave if left to its own devices. Right now, she looked like she had been through an intense static shock.

Adora knocked on the door. “Can you hear me? Glimmer and Bow are waiting for us.”

“Maybe I’m not going,” Catra snapped.

There was a pause. “Can I come in?”

“Whatever.” Catra turned away from the mirror and threw the brush and hair tie on the ground. The brush made a satisfying _thud_ noise, but the hair tie noiselessly bounced once and then simply lay there, taunting her.

Adora opened the door and covered her mouth. “Oh, Catra.”

“You don’t have to tell me.” Catra couldn’t look at her. She was, as always, perfect and beautiful. _Her_ hair never gave her this kind of trouble.

“I was going to say you look beautiful,” Adora said. She crossed the room and took Catra’s hands. “It’s your hair, isn’t it?”

“I can’t believe Prime cut it,” Catra moaned. “I’d been growing it out my whole life and now I have start all over. The last time it was this short, I was two. Two! I didn’t care what it looked like then!”

Adora put a soothing hand on the back of Catra’s head. “I’ll help,” she said. “What were you trying to do?”

“I was trying to make it behave _at all_ ,” Catra said. “But it won’t.”

Adora retrieved the brush from the floor. “Let me try.”

It was nice, having Adora brush her hair. She was gentle, even when she came across tangles that Catra hadn’t been able to undo. But the more she brushed, the fluffier Catra’s hair became, until it became clear to both of them that brushing wasn’t the solution.

“This is hopeless,” Catra moaned. “Just leave me behind. Tell them I’m sick or something.”

“No,” Adora said, stubborn as always. “We’re going to make this work.”

She set down the brush and started combing it through with her fingers. This worked better than the brush, but still did nothing for the volume. Catra stared hopelessly into the mirror as Adora tried and failed to calm her hair.

“It’s not going to work,” Catra said.

Adora pulled her hands back, and Catra thought for a heartbreaking moment that she was giving up. But she said, “I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

She hurried out the door before Catra could say anything, and thankfully, closed it behind her. It didn’t stay closed for long, though, as she returned mere moments later, leading Glimmer by the hand.

Catra groaned. “Really? Sparkles?”

“Shush,” Adora said. “Her hair is about the same length as yours. She might have some ideas.”

“It’s a completely different texture,” Catra said. “How can she help?”

“First of all, _she_ can talk to you directly,” Glimmer said. “Second, I’ve had to do my hair like a princess since I was a kid. I think I _might_ be able to help a little bit.”

Catra glanced at Adora, who gave her a smile and a thumbs up. Catra sighed. “All right, fine.”

Glimmer wasn’t as gentle as Adora, but she never pulled to the point of pain. Her hands smoothed down Catra’s hair until she was able to gather it up into one tiny ponytail. Adora handed her a hair tie, and in a moment, Catra’s hair was in the tiniest ponytail the world had ever seen.

She stared at herself in the mirror. She looked stupid.

“This isn’t going to work,” she said.

“Why not?” Glimmer said. “I think it looks cute.”

Catra shook her head, and the hair tie fell right out, letting all her hair loose again. “That’s why.”

Glimmer tapped a finger to her chin. “How about pigtails?”

“No! No, I am not wearing pigtails. Just leave it alone. It’s not going to cooperate.”

“Yes, it is,” Glimmer said, with grim determination. “I’ll be right back.”

She disappeared, and reappeared moments later with her hands full of various creams, gels, and other hair products. Catra stared at them in horror.

“Are you going to put that in my hair?” she said.

“Not all of them,” Glimmer said. “But if we can get it to lie flat…”

Catra shook her head and backed away. “No. Absolutely not. You’re not putting any of that goop into my hair. No way.”

Glimmer approached, waving one of the bottles menacingly in front of her. “If you want your hair to behave, we’re going to have to.”

Catra glanced at Adora, who read her gaze and said, “Glimmer, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

“It’s the only way.” Glimmer didn’t slow her approach. “It’s not like it’s painful.”

“It’s gonna be painful for one of us!” Catra yelped. Her tail was as fuzzy as the hair on her head, now. “Adora, stop her!”

Adora took a step closer. “Glimmer—”

Before she could say anything, though, all three of them were distracted by a knock on the mostly-closed door. Bow’s voice said, “Hey, is everything okay in there? We’re going to be late…”

“Bow!” Glimmer teleported to the door and opened it, leaving Catra to lean against the wall in temporary relief. “Thank goodness. We’re trying to get Catra’s hair to lie flat, but she won’t let me use any hair products.”

“That’s not what we’re trying to do!” Catra gripped her head, fluffing up her hair even more. “I just want it to look presentable!”

“Oh,” Bow said, blinking in surprise. “Well… can I try?”

“Don’t you even come near me with that stuff,” Catra hissed, pointing at the bottles still in Glimmer’s arms. Adora put a protective arm around her.

Bow held up his hands. “I won’t. Actually, I have an idea. Glimmer?”

He leaned down to whisper something in her ear. She nodded, and disappeared. Bow walked over to Catra and Adora, hands up, with a disarming smile. “I won’t put stuff in it, I promise.”

Adora looked at Bow, then at Catra. The question in her eyes was clear. Catra, not knowing what else to do, nodded.

“Okay,” Adora said. “But you better keep that promise.”

“Hey, we’re the Best Friend Squad,” Bow said. “Of course I’ll keep it.”

He didn’t pick up the hairbrush, instead starting to comb his fingers through her hair. Catra opened her mouth to say that Adora and Glimmer had already tried that, but the look of hope on Adora’s face shut her up. She really wanted her to go to this dinner.

Bow separated out a few pieces in front, and combed them until they were at least somewhat manageable. Then he held onto the rest of Catra’s hair until Glimmer reappeared, holding a red ribbon.

“It took me a while to find one that wasn’t pink or purple,” she said apologetically.

Catra eyed her suspiciously, but there was no sign of the products she had been holding before. She handed the ribbon to Bow, and he gently slipped it over Catra’s head, tying it in front of her ears, but behind the hair he had separated in the front. He moved in front to tie it, temporarily obscuring Catra’s view of the mirror. But when he moved away, she saw that he had tied it into a bow, right on the top of her head. Behind it, her hair was still ridiculously poofy, but at least it looked somewhat contained. And the bits he had separated out in front made it look like the poofiness was deliberate.

Catra raised her hand to the ribbon, worried it would fall out as soon as she moved. But it was tied well, and since it wasn’t trying to contain all of her hair like the hair tie had been, it didn’t move even when she touched it.

“I think it looks great,” Adora said.

“Yeah,” Catra said, looking down in embarrassment. How could she go to the dinner _now_? Bow and Glimmer would share the story and laugh about it and then everyone would know about her hair struggles.

But Adora took her hands, and when Catra looked up at her, she was smiling. “Let’s go, okay?”

She leaned in to kiss her, and Catra closed her eyes and kissed her back. As long as Adora was by her side, it didn’t matter what other people thought. And Glimmer and Bow wouldn’t say anything if Adora asked them not to.

“Aren’t we really late now?” she said, talking only to Adora.

But Glimmer and Bow were still in the room, and Glimmer said, “Maybe, but it’s not like they can start without me. C’mon, we’ll make some excuse.”

Catra looked at her, the back at Adora, and smiled. A year ago, she could never have imagined this. Now, she couldn’t imagine her life going any other way.

With one last glance in the mirror, she nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”


End file.
